Ain't Nothing but a Houndoom
by cottonspore
Summary: It's a lazy afternoon on Sunyshore beach and the two bros decide to kick back and relax. Except, there's not so much time for relaxation as there is for self-examination. ((Just another day in the life with Flint and Volkner. Not slash or anything, just bros being bros.)) [sorry im just really bad at writing summaries ;u;]


**A/N:** Okay, so I definitely wrote this as a stress reliever from my impending exams and research projects and essays that are due pretty much everyday c':

As i was *cough cough* studying and paying attention in class, I came up with a headcanon as to why Flint wears those iron bangles. This story actually deviates from it a little bit, but still it was hella fun to write.

But enough blathering from me, you're here for the story! =w=

* * *

It was another lazy day on Sunyshore Beach for the two master trainers. As usual, not much was happening for Volkner at the gym, and Flint was..well, Flint was being Flint and probably missed a couple of battles at the Pokémon League already.

It was midday, and not a whole lot was going on on the beach. A few volleyball games were in progress, and sunbathers peppered the beach near the shore. Some tourists and traveling trainers would snap an occasional photo of the two to prove that they saw a member of the Elite Four, or to say they were chilling with the toughest Gym Leader in Sinnoh.

The two were indifferent since there wasn't much else to do but loaf around. One of the trainers that had earned a spot in Volkner's gym decided to tag along, though it made for a lazy job of babysitting for the two. She tussled the fur of Volkner's Jolteon, watching it spike in agitation then relax once Jolteon repositioned itself to get away from her. It soon became a one-sided game of tag as Jolteon darted around the trainers and other Pokémon in order to escape her. The other Pokémon that Flint and Volkner brought looked on nervously, hesitant to save their jackrabbit friend in case they became the next target.

"How many people do you think stopped by the gym today?" Flint asked reclining back on his elbows to catch a better view of some girls tossing a frisbee around.

"Don't know. Probably somewhere around four if it's a little past noon." Volkner sighed as he caught his Jolteon right as it was about to run over his body that was lying flat on the ground.

"True, true."

"Yeah."

Half a moment later, a clumsy Pikachu tottered over to the two.

"Hey! How did you catch him without even looking! I had him in my sights the entire time and couldn't catch him!" The little trainer panted as she finally caught up with Jolteon.

"Meghan, do remember anything about your training?" Volkner asked dryly as he tried to calm his Jolteon from the approaching Pokekid.

"Yea!..Well, yeah a little…kinda.." Meghan became a little unsure of herself the more she thought about it.

"Do you remember what _I_ told you?" Flint chimed in after he finally ripped his attention away from the girls.

"Of course! That's why I still wear this!" Meghan patted her Pikachu costume with pride.

Volkner rose up from the sand and looked at the two suspiciously. "What did Flint tell you? Do you remember what _I_ told you about listening to Flint?"

"Yeah she remembers what you said, but because of my seniority in battling, my advice takes a higher priority."

Meghan began to nod her head eagerly to agree with what they were saying, but eventually slowed her nods down to look from one trainer to the other in confusion, not knowing who to agree with.

"Okay, bullshit Flint-"

"Watch your language in front of her! See, you're already proving to be a bad role model as it is!"

"TAUROS POOP, is that better?"

"Yes, it is actually."

"You idiot, that wasn't a legitimate question!"

"But you paused for me to answer it!"

"It's time for a timeout! Both of you owe me a tray of nachos for fighting!" Meghan interceded before the two could draw a lot of attention to themselves, and before Volkner could rip out a plug of Flint's afro.

"Meghan, you can't charge your employer." Volkner groaned instead of making any motion to reach for his wallet.

"Yeah she can, it's not like she's on the clock."

"Hey! Hey! No fighting!" Meghan stomped the sand in frustration.

There was a moment of silence between the three of them before anyone spoke again.

"Now, can someone remind me what it was that I needed to do to be better?" Meghan chuffed with her arms crossed. "And I was serious about those nachos, too!"

"Okay okay, listen up and listen good, young Kricketot." Flint sat up and crossed his arms as if he was some type of gang boss giving orders to a grunt. Before he addressed Meghan again, he signaled his Houndoom over with a nod of his head.

"Henry, we need some nachos. And don't eat any this time."

"Grrruff." Was Houndoom's understanding response and began to stealthily stalk the beach for neglected trays of nachos.

"Wow, you trained your Houndoom to get you nachos?" Meghan eagerly exclaimed as she watched the perusing Houndoom gulp down someone's unattended hotdog.

"As a master of Fire-type Pokémon, _any_ and _every_ Fire-type Pokémon listens to my command. That's pretty much how I met the team I have now." Flint stretched his hand out to stroke his Flareon that was lying nearby, only to have it move out of reach and curl up into a new ball.

Volkner let out another sigh and shook his head.

"Meghan, don't believe anything Flint says."

"It's a free region, she can believe anything she wants."

"The only reason why you like Fire Pokémon so much is because of your name, and that's it."

"No, the fact that I was _named_ 'Flint' just goes to show that I was born to be a Fire-type Master."

"If you're such a master of Fire-Types, then why was your initial Pokémon Party 3/5ths NOT Fire-Types?"

"Well gee, I dunno, I guess should ask the guy who first had an Octillery on his team, along with a two-tailed Aipom."

"GUUUUYYYS!" Meghan waved her hands in between the two to break up the bickering. "You guys aren't helping at all and I'm _hungry_!"

Right as she finished pouting, Houndoom trotted over to the group with two trays of nachos and another hotdog balanced precariously in the loose grip of its mouth. It took care not to let its teeth touch the food or to let anything fall out of the trays as it placed them on the ground.

"Good Doomy!" Houndoom was rewarded with a pat on the head from Meghan as she collected her nachos.

"Ay, good boy! You even scored me a hotdog!" Flint reached for the hotdog, only to have Henry snatch it up and gobble it down before his hand could even touch it. "Hey! Bad Henry! Bad!"

Whether he was a good boy or not, Henry simply wagged his tail and went off to roam the beach for more food.

"Yeah, a true master of Fire-Type Pokémon at work there, huh?" Volkner scoffed as he stole a couple of nachos.

"Well I don't see any mastery of Electric-ness going on over there, either!"

"Hmph. Well if you're such a Fire-Type Master, prove it."

"I don't need to prove myself to someone who fights with a monkey that has grabby hands as tails."

"What the hell, you have a monkey on your team, too!"

"Yeah, but it breathes fire. Cause it's a Fire-Type. Cause it's on my team. Cause I'm a Fire-Type Master."

Pokekid Meghan was too preoccupied with her nachos to really pay attention to the bickering. As she scooped up the last of the cheese from the first tray, she watched Henry the Houndoom scarf down someone's funnel cake. At the same time, she was thinking about the advice that the two Pokémon trainers had given her. Watching the Houndoom sparked something in her mind, snapping her attention back to the boys. "Hey Volkner, what was that thing you told me about Pokémon?"

"So you're saying a Lopunny is the epitome of a Fire-Type, you dumbass!"

"As much as an Octillery is an Electric-Type!"

Volkner had already gained a fist full of fro as Flint tugged on one of his blonde wings. Just like clockwork, Magmortar and Electivire had to pull the two away from each other before anymore hair could be grabbed. This earned them some concerned stares from fellow beach goers that happened to walk by, but only for a brief moment.

"Wait! I think I figured something out! Tell me your advice again!" Meghan splashed the two with sand, breaking the cold stare they shot at one another.

"Hmph. _My_ advice was that your moves should be as quick as lightning and have an impact just as strong." Volkner stated as he smoothed out the long blades of hair that became ruffled.

"Oh..I don't think that was it. Flint, what did you tell me?" Meghan tapped her chin in thought.

" _I_ said that in order to become a better Pokémon trainer, you had to become the Pokémon-"

"OH YEAH! That's right! That was it!" Meghan bounced up and down in excitement. "That explains it!"

Flint gave a blank stare, unaware of what was just explained.

"What explains it?"

"Remember earlier when I remembered why I remembered that I remembered your advice? Yeah, well it makes sense why I wear my Pikachu outfit, and it makes sense why you are you!" Meghan pointed a confident finger at Flint.

"Wait, I don't follow. Run that past me again." Flint scratched his head in confusion.

"Well, everything you said made sense! Your name is Flint because you're a Fire-Type user, AND because you're a _Fire-Type Pokémon_!"

"Huh? Oookay, I think you've been in the sun too long."

"No no, listen! You're a Houndoom inside of human body, aren't you?" The Pokekid crossed her arms in finality.

"Hahaha, well, I'm a Houndoom if you're really a Pikachu."

"I am! So you _are_ a Houndoom!"

"Wha- no! _You're_ just wearing a costume and _I'm_ a human! I didn't mean you _literally_ become a Pokémon-"

"A- _ha!_ But if I'm actually a Pikachu, then you're actually a Houndoom! And if you're not a Houndoom, then why do you have _those?"_

Meghan marched a little closer to Flint and pointed to the iron bracelets he wore on his wrists. "Doomy has those, too! And he listens to everything you say because you're the pack leader! But in human form! Just like how my Pikachus listen to me, even though I take a human form sometimes, too!"

Volkner began to laugh and Flint became even more confused.

"Wait wait wait – I take a human form because I _am_ a human! These are just iron..thingies that I wear, I can take them off whenever I want!" Flint handed his arm over for inspection. "See, just unclasp them and that will prove it."

"Engh, but they won't budge!" Meghan struggled to pull the iron bangles off of Flint's wrist, which made her little distraught.

"That's because you're not trying hard enough. Here, you apply pressure to this spot to separate them." After pressing the area of release, the bangle did not spring open like it was supposed to. "Wait, maybe it was right here, urgh, hold on,"

"Wait! No stop it! You're gonna pull your skin off, too!" Meghan began to panic when she saw that the bangles were not budging like Flint said they would. "It's a part of you! You can't take it off!"

"It's not a part of me! Maybe some sand got into the hinges or something. Hey Volk, tell her I'm not a Pokémon!" Flint started grow a little flustered – partly because the bangles will probably never come off since he thought it was a smart idea to wear them to the beach, and partly because Meghan genuinely believed he was a Pokémon, which was more than likely bad news for him.

Volkner gave a fake gasp and pretended to worry alongside Meghan.

"Wait a minute, you mean to tell me this whole time you were a Houndoom?"

"What, Volk, don't you dare!" Flint threatened in exasperation. "Can you help me take these off?!"

"Dude, now that she mentions it, you've had those on for as long as I could remember."

"Bro, come on! Stop it already! Besides, I didn't have two on each arm when we were kids, I only had one!"

"That's because you were a Houndour – they start off with one cuff and then once they reach level 24, they evolve and gain the other cuff. That also explains why you have one as collar now, too."

Meghan gasped at the new realization and started to search Flint up and down for any other anomalies he would have.

"Volkner you are not HELPING! Quit it before she tries to make me blow fire or something!" Flint scrambled to his feet and began to distance himself from the eager PokeKid. " **Volkner!** "

Volkner simply smirked and laid back into the sand. "It's no wonder I couldn't understand you earlier. I don't speak Houndoom."

Flint dashed from one spot to another as he tried to dodge the enthusiastic Pikachu pursuing him.

"Hey, if I have a tail, then where's yours?! Don't you have to cut a hole in your pants so you won't squish your tail!?"

" **VOLKNER!"**

"Woof woof woof. I hope I said that right."

"Wait up! Doesn't the sand burn your paw pads!?"

"I'M NOT A HOUNDOOM! S-STAY AWAY FROM ME! **VOLKNER! HELP ME!"**

Ignoring the pleas for help, Volkner stayed put and continued to lay in the sand. The Pokémon watched helplessly as Flint dashed about trying to flee the PokeKid. Though they felt bad, they knew it was wise not to intervene. And none other knew better than Jolteon, who sighed a small breath of relief as it nestled close to Volkner.

"Rewr reewwr,"

"Sorry, I don't speak Jolteon."

* * *

 **A/N:** As i kinda mentioned at the beginning, this wasn't my original headcanon but i wouldn't be surprised if something like this happened XD

My initial headcanon was that Flint would use his iron bracelets to confirm that he was part Houndoom to PokeKid Meghan, and she would be amazed and what not. But after a little more thought, this was more likely to be the reaction so i stuck with it =u=

Also, because i was pressed for time, i didnt get to add it but i totally wanted Flint to point out that Volkner's hair resembled Jolteon butt lmao

PokeKid Meghan would have definitely chased after him too if she had saw the resemblance XD  
maybe at a later point i'll rewrite this and add it in =w=


End file.
